Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer's English literature and writing was so strong that he has been called "the father of English poetry." He borrowed work from Boccaccio, Dante, and Petrach. People like Spencer, Keats, Tennyson learned about verse forms by reading some of Chaucer's work. ( Bloom 41).Geoffrey Chaucer's date and place of birth are not known, but it is said that Chaucer was born in his father's home in London. The house is located on a street called Thames that is somewhere near the west bank of the Wallbrook. His father is seen to have done business with the royal court. In 1357 the first real record of Chaucer says that he was a page in the household of the Countess of Ulster, she was the wife of Prince Lionel. From this time on Chaucer on Chaucer is believed to be associated with the royal family. By the 1380's Chaucer was very well known for his poetry; his fame got all the way to France, where the poet Eustache Des champs learned about Chaucer's work, he sent some of his poems to Chaucer, whom he thinks is a "great translator" as well as the expert of the English tongue.

Geoffrey Chaucer

Portrait of Chaucer from a manuscript by Thomas Ho...

Geoffrey Chaucer, whose Canterbury Tales shares ma...

Chaucer was well educated, but it is not known if he went to a university or not. Chaucer was in France because he was taken prisoner during one of King Edward III campaign, which eventually failed. This campaign happened because King Edward III wanted to the terms better for what would be the Treaty of Bretigny (1360), and be crowned king of France at Reims ("Brice"). In the year 1360 Chaucer went to France again on a mission for Prince Lionel. In recent documents it states that in 1366 Chaucer was in Spain, after his return he married a lady of...